A typical photograph album may have a construction like a book or loose-leaf binder with pages of paper onto which the photographs are mounted by various techniques. For example, an adhesive may be used to directly mount the photographs to the album pages, transparent retaining envelopes may be used, or corner mounts glued to the pages may hold the photographs. In these typical albums, the pages themselves add to the bulk of the album and, in addition, such albums may be costly, particularly when sold fully assembled.
A more desirable photograph album for a majority of applications has minimal excess size and weight beyond that which the photographs themselves contribute. The photograph album should be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, and the purchaser should have the option of whether to buy the photographs fully assembled in the album. The photograph album should also be available in kit form so that the purchaser may prepare his or her own albums.
Photograph albums have been developed in the prior art in an attempt to provide a lightweight and inexpensive album. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,116,738 to Wentges, discloses a photograph album having leaves holding photographs with fastening edges stacked together, one above the other. An elastic band is used to secure the leaves together by fitting into slots formed in opposing edges of the leaves. U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,176 to Rejwan similarly discloses an album using an elastic band to secure a stack of leaves together in a plastic binder. Unfortunately, an elastic band may be stretched beyond its elastic limit or may be easily separated from the binder and lost. A further disadvantage of the elastic band is that it is not amenable to automated assembly. Typically, the elastic band must be manually stretched and fitted to the stacked leaves during assembly of the photograph album.
The assignee of the present invention, in an effort to overcome the limitations of the elastic band, has developed and marketed a photograph album wherein fixed end pieces are positioned on opposite ends of an elongate backbone member. The album is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,216 to Policht. The fixed end pieces engage corresponding slots in opposing edges of the leaves holding the photographs. The stacked leaves must be flexed for insertion into or removal from the album.
Despite advancements and improvements in the art, there still exists a need for a lightweight and inexpensive photograph album that may be quickly and easily assembled, disassembled, and reassembled. In addition, assembly of the album should be capable of being readily implemented using automated equipment.